How to Build Your Own Brand

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My story isn’t that unique. I had been blogging and making youtube videos for three years and feeling as though I was getting nowhere. I had all of this knowledge, skill, great videos, and well, why hadn’t I been discovered? Why wasn’t the incessant blogging/making videos paying my bills? Furthermore, I had a small child at home and I was seriously tired of my 2 hour commute into an office where my skills/talent weren’t valued.

I come from a traditional immigrant family where you go to school, get a job, and that’s it. Sure you might have external passions/talents but you are to color inside of the lines and that’s it. Unfortunately for me, coloring inside of the lines hadn’t yielded me any great benefits. I had both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and was still waiting/searching for a company that would see in me the talent I know I possess.

I had to ask myself the following questions:

And HERE’S What I discovered:

How to Build Your Own Brand

Be fearless. I know this sounds crazy, because we are all afraid of one thing or another. But if you are so afraid that you cannot walk fully into your purpose it means you don’t have faith, and without faith/belief in yourself, your brand will not flourish.

Walk, talk, eat, sleep BREATHE your brand. As you develop your brand you will have to work at convincing people you are an expert in whatever it is you do. You are your own saleswoman. You need to own it, wear, speak everything about your brand into existence.

KNOW that not everyone will support your vision. Your family. Your friends. Internet trolls. The closer you get to achieving whatever it is you have set out to acheive you must recognize that others may not be happy about your assent to greatness, but it’s okay! If you take heed to #1 on this list, you’ll be fine.

Educate yourself. If you aren’t holding an MBA, chances are you are going to need to invest in educating yourself on how to grow your brand the right way. This may mean enrolling in an online school like Marie Farleo’s B-school, taking webinars, attending conferences, or working one-on-one with a coach ( which is the route I chose). Truthfully, I wish I had worked with a coach after my 1st year. I spent a lot of time and money trying to “figure things out” online, and it set me back. a lot.

Network (even online). I am the queen of facebook groups. I’m currently an active member in at least 5 groups and the knowledge I’ve gained has been invaluable (and free).

Know your competition. I can’t tell you the number of women who approach me looking for help, and when I got to their websites I’m immediately struck by the question: “why do you think you can sell your product online with this mediocre website, when your competition has a site that is far superior to yours?” Clients almost always then say things like, “well, I don’t have the money to design a pretty site.” Websites don’t have to be expensive as there are MANY cheap and pretty pre-made templates on the market. Presentation is everything. If you half-ass your brand you’ll have half-ass results.

Start saving. There is no such thing as building a brand without start-up costs. It just doesn’t happen. I didn’t start making money until I spent money.

Get familiar with Video Marketing. Again, this is one of those things that is scary for most people. And like most scary things, once you do it, the fear slowly abates. Youtube is one of the biggest search engines on the market. That means if you have a product of sale, folks will be searching for it, and they should be able to find information about your and/or your product on youtube.

Know SEO. Period. I’ve included a bonus guide on SEO in the e-book I co-authored. Learn more HERE

Sell something. This goes out especially to my fellow-bloggers. I am proof that taking pretty pictures and blogging consistently is not enough to make blogging your sole source of income. Chances are you will not become the next Big deal blogger just by blogging and spending all your free time on social media. It’s no way to live and it’s not sustainable. Once you start selling something you’ll realize the beauty of making money in your sleep and there is NOTHING like it.

I hope this blog post has been helpful and I want to hear more about your brand developing activities Please share them below! And for more information about working with me visit: LISAJEANFRANCOIS.COM

Well Hello! My name is Lisa and you’ve stumbled upon my own little corner of the world. I’m a lipstick-loving, high heel junkie, mom, and wife. When I’m not here bringing you the latest in beauty, fashion, hot topics, and bits and pieces of my life with my family, you can find me over on youtube swatching lipsticks and sharing my latest natural hairstyles. Make sure you also follow me on Instagram and Snapchat under my brand name Lisa A La Mode. I’m a real person. I promise.

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